Appearance (4.75) : Massive head. Like four fingers. Impressive, yo. Dense copper red body. Leaves nice lacing on the glass. (I'm counting five rings at the end of the review.) The head just stays for days. I mean it. Floats frothy on top and won't go away. I have to give this beer props for appearance.

Taste (4.25) : Delicious. Delicious with an alcoholic bite. A fresh carbonated zip gives way to pineapple, banana, and raisin. A lot like drinking a cinnamon fruit salad. I love it. A tiny sour and yeasty malt character clashes just a bit but nothing overwhelming. If it wasn't there, it wouldn't be beer. A spiced banana flavor with cinnamon and cloves. Banana bread finish. Fruity hops. Hints of figs and raisin. Zippy. Delectable.

Overall (4.28) : I've actually tried this with ice cream. Apart from the slight alcohol off-taste, it makes a good float. Not kidding! I'm having a fantastic night with beers. This beer rocks my world. Abbey is worth a serious look. Thoroughly impressed here. I'm totally in a good mood now. See what great beer does to a man? (1,677 characters)

Enjoyed in a Chimay snifter from the 12 oz bottle. This FINE dubbel pours a very clear dark reddish brown with a solid light tan head of dissipating foam that settles to a nice 1/2" thick pool of foam and nice lacing. Nose of brown sugars, raisins, strong banana notes from the yeast, light spice, and a moderate grain alcohol note. Flavors follow the nose with brown sugars and banana ester notes to all sides, raisins, plums, and a light nutmeg note comes through on the back and aftertaste making for a fantastic symposium of a Belgian done right in America. Warmth adds to the ester notes from the yeast with a moderately dry finish yet with a creamy smooth mouth feel from good carbonation. An A plus in my book!

Appearance – The beer pours a deep mahogany color with some ruby highlights and a small off white head of fizzy foam. The head fades rather fast leaving a bit of foamy lace on the sides of the glass.

Smell – The aroma of the beer is huge of a nice big fruity smell of a darker fruit nature, with plenty of raisin, plum, and some cherry. Along with these aromas are a nice blend of a yeasty smell as well as some aromas of a more roasted malt smell with some aromas of a coriander and clove mixed in along side. A little bit of a boozy smell is there as well, creating a nice fruity and warming dubbel aroma overall.

Taste – The taste begins with a good dark fruit flavor of raisin and plum predominantly, with some lighter hints of cherry as well. Along with the fruit there is a little bit of a roasted taste as well as a very light boozy flavor. As the taste advances, the booziness increases all while fruitiness decays a little bit. At the same time, some yeast and spice of coriander and clove and a hint of banana and bubblegum come to the tongue. Some boozy tastes and a resurgence of the dark fruit occur at the end, leaving one with a fruity and warming dubbel flavor to linger on the tongue.

Mouthfeel – The body of the beer is on the average side in terms of thickness and creaminess with a carbonation level that is rather average as well. For the mix of fruity, yeasty, and boozy flavor of the brew, the feel is rather nice and does a good job of balancing the booze with the sweet fruit, making for a good moderate pace drinking dubbel.

Overall – A rather nice Abbey style ale overall with a nice drinkability and a good blend of fruit, booze, and yeasty spice. A rather well done dubbel that is quite nicely priced. A good go to dubbel style ale. (1,825 characters)

Pours a medium brown with some reddish tint with a thinner head than expected,the aromas more than make up for the lackluster appearance of this beer sweet malt and very fruity with a faint smoky-like yeastiness.Flavors of raisins and toffee really jump out at ya up front but its not overly sweet in my mind,a touch of phenolic spiciness in the finish with some warming alcohol as the beer warms a little.A fine American example of a Belgian Dubbel,I would buy again. (468 characters)

Mellow and pleasant. A dunkel for drinkers. Sessionable? Certainly. Appearance: A tad light in color for the body but boy the head is grand, lasting a ¼ inch with lacing up the sides of the glass to a ½ inch. Just wonderful. Anise, plums, banana, dates, and phenols. Creamy as Culvers custard. Minute carbonation plays hop scotch and tidily winks on the tounge. Yum, yum. This beers fun. Loads of banana in the flavor. Bready too. Great feel. Crisp, creamy, and even a touch dry in the finish. A winner. (509 characters)

An amazing American version of a Belgium beer. There is SO much that this beer gets right. The beer pours beautifully with at least a two finger head, it has a beautiful shade of redish brown liquid, and it has a GREAT mouth feel (it isn't watered down). It feels like an authentic Belgium beer (that costs about $6+ a bottle). This beer is priced perfectly, wow, so much bang for the buck! I can get it for $1.50 a bottle. It has 7% abv too! The alcohol is masked: you can feel the warmth of it but not really a taste of alcohol.

The taste is of malt, banana, bubble gum (you can taste it when you burp :-D ), pepper, and yeast.

This is one of the best bang for your buck beers in America. I'm in love with this stuff. (721 characters)

Bold mahogany colored pour with a good inch of off white bubbly foam on top that has good staying power. Aromas start out with biscuit malts and a bright fruit scents. Spicy yeast tones with a touch of caramel in the background. Smooth overall.

First sip brings crisp malts upfront with a mix of grainy, biscuity and caramel flavors. Fruity tones roll across with plum, cinammon and a touch of grape. Spicy yeast kicks across the length of each sip. Finishes clean with a spicy/malty aftertaste.

Mouthfeel is somewhat creamy with a medium body and steady carbonation. Goes down smoothly enough and is pretty drinkable. A little on the mellow side but overall a solid interpretation of the style. (697 characters)

Poured into a goblet.Nice tan head fades quickly to a thin layer of lace.Smell is raisiny, plummy, with a sweet caramel malt background.Flavor is of candied dark fruit, figs and plums. Really very tasty. Probably would be excellent with some grilled red meat.Very smooth and easy drinking. Really nice beer. Wish I could get more of it. (340 characters)

Presentation: 12 oz brown bottle with a best before date on the side of the label. Info about the brewery and beer are on the label as well.

Appearance: The loose yeast ended up making its way into the chalice though with the color being a deep leather brown it did not affect any kind of clarity. Decent lacing with a good stickage down the glass.

Taste & Mouthfeel: Medium bodied with a creamy backing, turbid crispness ends with a sharp bite. Malty with ripe fruit all over, playful phenolics help to balance. Hard pinch of alcohol shows its 7% abv. Some brown bread in the finish, semi-dry with a slowly fading bitterness.

Notes: Very drinkable and comparable to the real Trappist brews. WOW! What an amazing American brewed Belgian Style beer I hope to have this beer in the Boston area some day soon as one bottle was just a tease. (967 characters)

12ounce bottle, with best before dating on the label. Pours a nice clear, glowing/glistening darker amber. Head is dark tan, tiny bubble and long lasting. Plenty of fine and scattered sheeting left on the glass. Fine looking brew. Nose is softly of yeast, and ripe fruits. Smooth and subtle Dubbel, mellow ripe fruit, light rum/raisin and clove/spice. Yummy, simply yummy. I'm not usually a huge dubble fan, but this one is on the lighter side and it is thoroughly delicious. (475 characters)

Thanks to bennetj17 for this and many other NB brews....solid trader.
Pours dark brown in color...quite cloudy and quickly fills with 2/3rd's of the lightest, fluffiest head I've seen. Most sticks around for the pint, but what fades, produces some lacing that holds strong with everlasting stickiness.
Mildly spiced in the nose with a subtle malt sweetness...candy sugar mostly with just a touch of hops.
Taste is very enjoyable...I would not say "complex" as the bottle states, but very drinkable. Less spice in the flavor, but the caramel malt carries over well...finishes clean with the belgian yeast adding a earthy spice to balance out with the hop addition.
Alcohol is not found in the taste and this one goes down too easy.
Mouthfeel is medium bodied and the carbonation is perfect for me.
Would not think I'd go for this one after yardwork, but I found this to be very refreshing.
Solid first impression from the folks at New Belgium. (949 characters)